Gourmet Vegetarian Kitchen

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make one layer on the frying pan and fry 'til all looks crispy

In southern Thailand where I was born, turmeric is very common, and I grew up eating turmeric as part of my daily diet. We put turmeric in almost every dish, and we even have one dish called “gaeng leang” or “yellow curry” because we use so much turmeric in it. Whenever I helped my mom in the kitchen, my fingers got stained for days!

When I first moved to the U.S, I found that turmeric was not so common, and that made me forgot about it for a while. Like everything, when it’s out of sight, it’s also out of mind.

It came back to me when I happened to read an article about the benefits of turmeric. Some research says curacumin in turmeric has a powerful anti-inflammatory, which is a strong antioxidant that can fight or even cure some kinds of cancer. The article brought so many memories of eating turmeric back to me. How could I forget about that yellow root I didn’t like when it stained my hands?

I wanted to add turmeric back to my diet, so, I started to search for it again. To my happy surprise, it wasn’t hard at all to find turmeric powder. Sometimes, I can even buy fresh turmeric like we use in Thailand. As more people know about its benefits, it seems to be more popular nowadays.

One day, I was craving the salty taste of garlic and turmeric in my mother’s fish dishes so much. I decided to try making that dish, but replaced the fish with tofu. It turned out very similar to what I wanted, and satisfied my craving!

So, here is another way to add turmeric in your diet:…

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After day 7th in the fridge, the vegetables should be ready to be eaten

For sentimental reasons, what I’m going to write in this post reminds me so much of my childhood and what my mom did raising us. It’s been so long since I left my Thai home. Thinking about my memories gives me a lump in my throat–oh how I miss those days!!

I remember seeing my mom’s joy of growing vegetables in our garden. I also remember her pride in cooking and fermenting vegetables in our kitchen. We had a great garden by a river in our backyard, and my mom would plant everything she could think of in it all year round. I can still hear my mom’s voice asking me and my sister to stop playing and go to the garden and get what she needed for her.

Vegetables such as lemongrass, Thai chilies, or limes were typical things for us then. Back in those days, seeing my mom work so hard to get simple food, that at the same time was sold everywhere, I wished she would go to the supermarket and buy everything just like other “modern families” did. I’m so glad she didn’t do that now, and instead she went the extra mile to feed us well….

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The easiest dish I ever prepared was the dish for my daughter when she started to eat solid food. At the time, I didn’t have to do anything besides giving her plain steamed vegetables. I gave her one cooked vegetable at a time to observe her reactions with each type. I tasted everything before I fed her first, and was surprised they actually tasted good the way they were–plain. When I was finally sure that she wasn’t allergic to anything, I started to add some seasoning to her vegetables and thought she would love to eat them even more. Hmm. . . no, she didn’t like them any better than the plain ones. So, I adjusted how I cook vegetables to the way my daughter liked to eat, which was incredibly simple.

That made me realize that we are actually born to eat food close to its original form. Ever since, I have kept this idea in mind and tried to keep my food as simple as possible. I love how I can tell what each vegetable tastes like just by looking at it.

Here is one of my many plain vegetable dishes. With just broccoli, garlic & coconut oil, a pinch of salt, and lemon juice, it’s so plain yet very tasty:…

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What I miss most about the first three years of being a new mom is the special time bonding with my baby during breastfeeding. I’m so lucky to experience such a sentimental time once in my life. There were some difficult times I thought would never end though when I was dealing with the painful cycles of mastitis.

It’s been so long, and I never thought about it ‘til I got a phone call from my friend who was taking the same Spanish class with me last night. She has 2 daughters: one is almost 3 years old, and the other just turned 1 and is still nursing. Her family just moved from Hong Kong and is new to town like us so we became friends instantly. She needed my help taking care of her daughters, while she was going to see a doctor. She told me that something serious might happen to her as she found a few lumps on her left breast and they were so painful.

I was fine taking care of her daughters, but what she was telling me brought back memories. It’s hard to believe that many years have flown by since I stopped breastfeeding, but everything during that time was still clear in my mind. I was pretty sure that she must be having mastitis as her little one, who is still nursing, had been sick and couldn’t nurse like normal. …

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Like most people, I considered yogurt a healthy part of my diet for a long time. Even though I always saw Kefir on the same shelf as yogurt, I didn’t know its real benefits until a few years ago when I was learning about fermentation. It surprised me to find out it has many more beneficial bacteria strains (probiotics) than yogurt. Before long, I tried it and quickly switched from yogurt to kefir almost entirely, as it actually tastes great, and is easier to drink too.

Whenever I hear fellow parents complain about their children’s upset stomachs, that they can’t go to the bathroom on a regular basis, or being lactose intolerant, I try to introduce kefir to them. Most of the time I end up answering this question: “What is kefir?”  Well, from all my research, I can easily explain that kefir is one of the most probiotic rich foods, and it has been used in European countries for many centuries.

Similar to yogurt, it can be made from either cow’s or goat’s milk. The magical 24-hour fermentation process transforms the regular milk into a slightly sour and thick milk when it becomes kefir. During the process, yeast and good bacteria eat most lactose, also known as “milk sugar,” from the milk. It has been proven that many people who are lactose intolerant can safely drink kefir. It’s also rich in vitamin B, calcium, magnesium, folic acid, and has a lot of good bacteria known as probiotics that help with digestion….

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We always spend time doing things together

When I was ready for a change 20 years ago, travelling and getting away from my interior design work sounded great. I wanted to go somewhere completely different from where I was, so I got a visa and decided to explore the U.S. Once there, I discovered so many more options in life than just working and saving money for a future that I didn’t even know what would be. I knew I made the right decision then, and I still do now!

Both my husband and I love traveling, but we didn’t get to do much during the years when our daughter was still young. It’s also nice to have extended periods of being completely dedicated to where you are. In fact when we live in other countries we also try to focus on being there and engaging the local culture as both residents and tourists.

In 2011, on the way back from Thailand we stopped in Taiwan and stayed for a week visiting both urban and more rural areas, thanks to a family friend. We were fascinated by the friendliness, kindness and generosity of Taiwanese people. We all agreed on the idea of spending a school year there, and started working toward that goal. Our first year living abroad as a family was in 2013-2014–as hoped.

What did we get after one year there? SO MUCH!, I hardly know where to start….

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